International Standard VersionAre we beginning to recommend ourselves again? Unlike some people, we do not need letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?

NET BibleAre we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don't need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we?

New Heart English BibleAre we beginning again to commend ourselves? We do not need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you, do we?

Aramaic Bible in Plain EnglishDo we introduce ourselves again from the beginning to show you what we are, or do we need, as others, letters of commandments to be written to you about us, or for you to write to give decrees concerning us?

GOD'S WORD® TranslationDo we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others?

New American Standard 1977 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?

King James 2000 BibleDo we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

American King James VersionDo we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

American Standard VersionAre we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?

Douay-Rheims BibleDo we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need (as some do) epistles of commendation to you, or from you?

Darby Bible TranslationDo we begin again to commend ourselves? or do we need, as some, commendatory letters to you, or [commendatory] from you?

English Revised VersionAre we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?

Webster's Bible TranslationDo we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you.

Weymouth New TestamentDo you say that this is self-recommendation once more? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

World English BibleAre we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you?

Young's Literal Translation Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you?

Acts 18:27When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he greatly aided those who by grace had believed.

Romans 16:1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.

1 Corinthians 16:3Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 5:12We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.

2 Corinthians 10:12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance.

2 Corinthians 10:18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 12:11I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those "super-apostles," even though I am nothing.

Treasury of Scripture

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

begin.

2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

2 Corinthians 10:8,12 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: …

epistles.

Acts 18:27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

1 Corinthians 16:3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.

do we need,χρῄζομεν(chrēzomen)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person PluralStrong's Greek 5535: To need, have need of, want, desire. From chreia; to make necessity, i.e. Be in want of.

likeὥς(hōs)AdverbStrong's Greek 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner.

some [people],τινες(tines)Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine PluralStrong's Greek 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object.

(1) Do we begin again to commend ourselves?--The MSS. present various readings: "Do we begin again to commend ourselves [Nay, not so], unless we desire [which we do not] letters of commendation;" but the Received text is sufficiently supported, and gives a clearer and simpler meaning. Here, again, we have to read between the lines. Titus has told St. Paul what has been said of him at Corinth. Referring, probably, to what he had said in his First Epistle as to the "wisdom" which he preached (1Corinthians 2:6), his having "laid the foundation" (1Corinthians 3:10), his dwelling on his sufferings (1Corinthians 4:11), his preaching without payment (1Corinthians 9:15) as a thing he gloried in, they had sneered at him as always "commending himself." They had added that it was no wonder that he did so when he had no authoritative letters of commendation from other churches, such as were brought by other teachers. As soon as the words "We are not as the many" had passed his lips, the thought occurs that the same will be said again. He hears it said, as it were, and makes his answer.

Need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you?--We are left to conjecture who are thus referred to. Possibly some of the Apollos party had contrasted the letters which he had brought from Ephesus (Acts 18:27) with St. Paul's want of them. Possibly the Judaising teachers who meet us in 2Corinthians 11:13 had come with credentials of this nature from the Church of Jerusalem. The indignant tone in which St. Paul speaks indicates the latter view as the more probable. The "letters of commendation" deserve notice as an important element in the organisation of the early Church. A Christian travelling with such a letter from any Church was certain to find a welcome in any other. They guaranteed at once his soundness in the faith and his personal character, and served to give a reality to the belief in the "communion" of saints, as the necessary sequel to the recognition of a Catholic or universal Church. It is significant of the part they had played in the social victory of the Christian Church that Julian tried to introduce them into the decaying system which he sought to galvanise into an imitative life (Sozomen. Hist. v. 16).

Verses 1-11. - St. Paul's ministry is his sufficient letter of commendation. Verse 1. - Do we begin again to commend ourselves? The last verse of the last chapter might be seized upon by St. Paul's opponents to renew their charge - that he was always praising himself. He anticipates the malignant and meaning smiles with which they would hear such words. The word "again" implies that this charge had already been brought against him, perhaps in consequence of such passages as 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 4:11-14; 1 Corinthians 9:15-23; 1 Corinthians 14:18, etc. Such passages might be called self-laudatory and egotistical, were it not that (as St. Paul here explains) they arose only from a sense of the grandeur of his office, of which he was the almost involuntary agent, used by God as it seemed best to him. Hence he says later on (2 Corinthians 7:18) that self-praise is no commendation, and that the true test of a man is God's commendation. The verb "I commend," technically used in the same sense as our "commendatory letters," occurs also in Romans 16:1. Or need we, etc.? The reading, η} μὴ, thus translated, is better supported than εἰ μὴ, unless, which would have a somewhat ironical force. The μὴ in the reading η} μὴ implies, "Can you possibly think that we need," etc.? Generally, when a stranger came to some Church to which he was not personally known, he carried with him some credentials in the form of letters from accredited authorities. St. Paul treats it as absurd to suppose that he or Timothy should need such letters, either from the Corinthians or to them. As some. He will not name them, but he refers to the Judaists, who vaunted of their credentials in order to disparage St. Paul, who was too great to need and too independent to use them. We can hardly, perhaps, realize the depth and bitterness of antagonism concealed under that word "some" in 1 Corinthians 4:18Galatians 1:7; Galatians 2:12. It is not meant that there was anything discreditable in using such letters (for Apollos had used them, Acts 18:27), but the disgraceful thing was that St. Paul should be disparaged for not bringing them. Epistles of commendation. The phrase, ἐπιστολαὶ συστατικαί ( "introductory letters" - was familiar in later Greek. In days when there were few public hostels, and when it was both a duty and a necessity for small and persecuted communities like those of the Jews and Christians to practise hospitality (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2. etc.), it was customary both for synagogues and Churches to provide their friends and emissaries with authentic testimonials. Otherwise they might have been deceived by wandering impostors, as, in fact, the Christians were deceived by the vagabond quack Peregrinus. We can easily see how the custom of using such letters might be abused by idle, restless, and intriguing persons, who have never found it very difficult to procure them. We find traces of their honest use by Phoebe, by Silas and Jude, by Apollos, by Mark, and by Zenas, in Romans 16:1; Acts 18:27; Acts 15:25; Colossians 4:10; Titus 3:13; and of their unfair use by certain Judaists, in Galatians 1:7 and Galatians 2:12. Nothing can more forcibly illustrate the necessity for St. Paul's protest against the idle vaunt of possessing such letters, than the fact that, more than a century afterwards, we find malignant innuendoes aimed at St. Paul in the pseudo-Clementines, under the name of" the enemy" and "Simon Magus" and "a deceiver." He is there spoken of as using letters from the high priest (which, indeed, St. Paul had done as Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:1, 2); and the Churches are warned never to receive any one who cannot bring credentials from James; so deep-rooted among the Judaists was the antagonism to the independent apostolate and daring originality of the apostle of the Gentiles! Dr. Plumptre quotes Sozomen ('H.E.', 5:16) for the curious fact that the Emperor Julian tried to introduce the system of "commendatory letters" into his revived paganism. Or letters of commendation from you. The substitution of "letters" for "epistles" is an instance of the almost childish fondness for unnecessary synonyms, which is one of the defects of the Authorized Version. The true reading probably is "to you or from you" (א, A, B, C). The word "commendatory" (sustatikon) is omitted in A, B, C. Or from you. It was worse than absurd to suppose that St. Paul should need those literae formatae to a Church of which he was the thunder; and nothing but the boundless "inflation" which characterized the Corinthians could have led them to imagine that he needed letters from them to other Churches, as though, forsooth, they were the primary Church or the only church (1 Corinthians 14:36).